LaVar Arrington: Mike Shanahan Is The Next Redskin Hire

Former Washington Redskins star linebacker LaVar Arrington on his radio show insists that Washington has already greased the skids for hiring Mike Shanahan as the next Redskins head coach.

Arrington declined to name his source for the news, but contends it is solid and reliable.

Reports circulated through the day that Shanahan informed Redskins owner Daniel Snyder that he would not join the team if Vinny Cerrato was acting as general manager.

Cerrato announced that he was resigning his position today. That news was followed by the stunning announcement that Bruce Allen, son of former Redskins head coach George Allen, had been hired as the new executive vice president and general manager of the team.

Allen's brother, former Virginia governor and U.S. Senator George Allen, said in an interview that Bruce and the Redskins worked on the deal "for weeks" and marveled that there were no leaks on the story.

The NFL says that the Redskins complied with the league's Rooney Rule that requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate before hiring a GM or head coach. The rule was set to break the Old Boy cycle of where insiders are hired to the exclusion of worthy minority candidates.

Arrington posits the logical view that it make little sense to name a GM without an end game of head coach. But until he reveals his source, we have to treat Arrington's thought as an informed guess.

That Cerrato's resignation was followed so quickly by Allen's hire has the feel of an orchestrated move.

It's also typical of Snyder: the big name hire that solves all problems. Lets catch our breath.

George Allen did not lead the modern resurgence of the Washington Redskins. Vince Lombardi did. Allen extended it in the pre-salary cap era when he famously exceeded his unlimited budget.

Allen led the Redskins to one Super Bowl. He left the team when his "Over The Hill Gang" really was over the hill.

There's no guarantee that Bruce can even duplicate his father's accomplishment. We think he will bring sense and order to Washington's salary cap structure so that we never again see a day when a Brandon Lloyd counts millions against the 2009 salary cap. That could take years to fix. Bruce's record as a GM is mixed in any event.

There's no certainty that Shanahan is the guy to lead a Redskins Renaissance. He was 24-24 in his last three seasons with Denver. That's only slightly better than Joe Gibbs' record in his return to Washington. Denver released Shanahan when Broncos owner Pat Bowlen got the sense that he lost his touch.

There's no certainty either that Shanahan even shows up here. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has surely hit the speed dial to Shanny's phone by now.

The common factor in all of Snyder's moves is Snyder himself. Big name moves haven't worked for Snyder because he keeps getting in his team's way.

When Jimmy Johnson slammed Snyder last October, he said the Redskins need a general manager who can make smart moves while making Snyder think he's having an influence. Johnson called that an impossible task.

Washington's success with these moves depend entirely on how hands off Daniel Snyder will be on football operations.

It's too soon to say about that, so curb your enthusiasm and hold on to your wallets.